Stephens Inc. AR Makes New Investment in Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR)

Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,258 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,014 shares of the company's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 70,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,031,000 after buying an additional 9,644 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Finally, Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new position in Whirlpool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,579,000. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR traded down $3.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,096,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,016,430. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.50. Whirlpool Corporation has a one year low of $73.72 and a one year high of $135.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 664.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 21.38%. Whirlpool's quarterly revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Corporation will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WHR shares. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Whirlpool from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $81.00 to $65.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Whirlpool from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.40.

Whirlpool Company Profile

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The company's principal products include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and refrigerator water filters; laundry appliances, and commercial laundry products and related laundry accessories; cooking and other small domestic appliances; and dishwasher appliances and related accessories, as well as mixers.